Speech by Mr Lee Yi Shyan Minister of State for Trade
& Industry and Manpower at the Opening Ceremony of Det Norske
Veritas’ Clean Technology Centre on Thursday, 18 March 2010, at
5:15pm at the Shangri-La Hotel, Island
Ballroom
Dr Henrik
Madsen
CEO, Det Norske
Veritas A/S
Mr BT
Markussen
Managing Director of
DNV Clean Technology Centre
Distinguished
Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen
Good afternoon to all of you.I am pleased to be here at
the opening of DNV’s new Clean Technology
Centre.
Cleantech as a Key Growth Area for
Singapore
In past decade or so, governments and
corporations worldwide have had to grapple with critical issues
such as climate change, energy security and urbanisation. Many are
now focusing their attention on the issue of environmental
sustainability.
For a resource-constrained city-state like Singapore,
growing our economy in a sustainable manner has always been the
guiding principle.Over time, we developed environmental and urban
solutions that are unique to our needs.Increasingly too, our
experience has become of interests to many Asian cities in the
region.
Recently, the Singapore Government
identified the Cleantech industry as an area that holds strategic
economic growth opportunity.It is a sector that requires an
integration of cross-disciplinary as well as vertical knowledge in
electronics, chemicals and precision
engineering.
By 2015, the Cleantech industry is
expected to contribute $3.4 billion to Singapore’s GDP and employ
about 18,000 people. Last month, we launched CleanTech Park,
Singapore’s first business park, which will house a cluster of
Cleantech activities. It will also serve as a large-scale
integrated test-bed for Cleantech
solutions.
Singapore as a Living
Laboratory for Cleantech
Solutions
In fact, we are now positioning the
whole of Singapore as a “living laboratory” in which companies can
come together to develop, test-bed and commercialise,
future-oriented solutions. Some of the solutions can then be scaled
up and deployed in other Asian
cities.
DNV’s new Clean Technology Centre will play an important
multiplier role in this process.It has started to work with
partners such as the Maritime Port Authority (MPA), Nanyang
Technological University (NTU), the National University of
Singapore (NUS), and private sector companies on joint
projects.These collaborations combine the resources of private and
public sector to devise solutions for Singapore and for the
region.
Manpower Development as Growth
Driver
To ensure the continued and
sustainable growth of the Cleantech industry, the government has
set aside close to $700 million to develop R&D and manpower
capabilities for this sector.The fund is set aside to target 5
focus areas – manpower development, R&D, enterprise
development, international branding of the industry and nurturing a
vibrant Cleantech
ecosystem.
We have also developed and launched a
number of new programmes to groom a green-collar workforce.
For example, we aim to train at least 150 technology leaders over 5
years under the Cleantech post-graduate scholarships
programme.
The Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA) is
currently working with companies, polytechnics and research
institutions to develop a variety of specialised training courses
in areas such as photovoltaic (PV) manufacturing, system
integration and sustainable manufacturing under the Workforce
Skills Qualification (WSQ) framework. By the end of 2010, these
courses will contribute about 600 trained professionals that will
help meet the needs of the
industry.
Conclusion
Moving forward, we believe the Cleantech industry will
evolve to be a high key growth sector for Singapore’s economy. The
opening of DNV’s Clean Technology Centre today marks a significant
milestone in our efforts to further develop this promising
industry.
Singapore is proud to work
with DNV in this partnership. To conclude, I would like to extend
my heartiest congratulations to the management and staff of DNV on
the establishment of its R&D centre in Singapore. I wish you
every success in your new
venture.
Thank
you.